Paris: French auto giant PSA Group, the maker of Peugeot and Citroen cars, said Thursday its premises had been raided by France’s anti-fraud squad as part of a probe into emissions.
“As part of ongoing investigations on pollutants in the automobile sector, today PSA Group has been the subject of a visit and a seizure by France’s General Directorate for Competition Policy, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF),” PSA, France’s biggest carmaker, said in a statement.
PSA said it was cooperating with the authorities and “confirms compliance of its vehicles in pollutant emissions in all countries where it operates.”
Contacted by AFP, the fraud squad gave no details on the raid or on what prompted it.
It comes three months after a surprise probe at Renault, France’s second-biggest automaker, as part of the government’s drive to shed light on emissions practices by car manufacturers in the wake of a global emissions scandal at Germany’s Volkswagen.
The German company has admitted it installed illegal software into 11 million 2.0 litre and 3.0 litre diesel engines worldwide, including VW, Porsche and Audi models, that intentionally masked the vehicle’s real emissions levels during testing.
In the latest scandal to rock the sector, Japan’s Mitsubishi Motors admitted that it also cheated, on fuel-efficiency tests.
The shock statement sent stock market investors fleeing, wiping $2.5 billion off Mitsubishi’s market value in just two days.